Citation: At approximately 2304 hrs on 02/24/11
while walking through room 2225 (Order Assembly), I observed the
following noncompliance. The plant typically stores vats of edible
product completely covered with blue plastic to prevent
contamination. In room 2225, I noticed a grey vat of uncured
skinless pork bellies only partially covered by blue plastic. There
were numerous black specks of approximately 1/8" on all exposed
product in that vat. The black specks had even fallen between
bellies and between the bellies and the sides of the vat. The source
of this contamination is unidentified, but vats and wooden pallets
with product are moved and stored above this area. I immediately
retained approximately 1891 lbs of affected product with US Retained
tag B24762235. QA technician, was immediately informed of my
regulatory control actions and of the noncompliance. As of this
writing, the product is still retained. This contamination is in
violation of the plant's own SSOP. Section 3.4.1 of the SSOP states
"[redacted] ". The above noncompliance is in violation of 9 CFR
416.13(c) and 416.4(d).

Regulation:

416.13(c) Each official establishment shall monitor daily the
implementation of the procedures in the Sanitation SOP’s.

416.4(d) Product must be protected from adulteration during
processing, handling, storage, loading, and unloading at and during
transportation from official establishments.